November 9, 2021
November 9, 2021
As a resident of Massachusetts, this author has been seeing signs for snowplow drivers popping up all over - and for good reason. With a historic labor-shortage in the works, coupled with supply chain/ microchip/ etc delays impacting the supply of trucks, plows, tires, you name it, there may be a good amount of snow left on the streets this year.
And now, we pay. Town managers are now offering up to $310 an hour as towns began what amounts to an arms race to line up services for the traditional challenging New England winter. The top rate RNN could find for last winter was $150 per hour for independent drivers.
Last winter, some Massachusetts roads went unplowed due to a lack of available plow drivers, according to CBS’s Boston affiliate.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is offering $31.25 per hour for drivers operating state-owned plows, but driver who own their own vehicle or have a CDL stand to earn significantly higher hourly rates - close to 10x.
Snowplow drivers licensed to operate commercial vehicles such as construction loaders will make the most come storm season. Contractors and construction companies that have supplied snowplow drivers and equipment to towns in the past are competing for workers with CDLs amid the truck driver shortage, The Boston Globe reported.
Watertown, a suburb 20 minutes outside of Boston, is offering hourly wages ranging from $86 to $310, depending on the type of equipment used, government documents show. The town's hourly salary for a "snow melter" is listed at a whopping $5,500 — but the required machine can cost up to $3 million.
Chelmsford towing company owner Chris Ferrera told NBC10 it’s been tough to hire anyone, and he’s had to give raises to keep the workers he has.
“We can’t find anybody; I can’t find anybody,” he said. “That’s a problem because I can’t respond to the needs of the town or the community that I work for, and so who is going to fill that void?”